This is a brand new cuvée that we brought into Singapore recently (as they were perpetually sold out at the winery!). Like what Meryl and Géraldine Croizier put it - "it is the return of a Viognier that isn't quite a Viognier!". Whole bunch pressed immediately after harvest, the juice for Minute Papillon was fermented naturally by indigenous yeasts, in a concrete vat. Once the final wine is born, it will then rest with its lees in the same vat for about a year before the wine is bottled (without any filtration or fining) and laid to rest for another 12 months or so prior to release.
We tried a bottle last week with some friends and the wine exhibited a deep lemon yellow, cloudy core with aromas reminiscent of dried chamomile flowers, ripe apricots, preserved lemons and sour plums. Tart citrus and starfruit seemed to dominate on the palate, with prominent notes of soursop and Indonesian snake fruit (buah salak). We won't lie - this wine has some fairly high VA that requires the bottle to be properly chilled, and best served cold, as per the winemakers' instructions. A perfect wine for rather strong tasting cheeses, we'd recommend drinking this with fully ripened and aged Époisses or Camembert (au lait Cru please), tangy goat's cheese and rosette shavings of Tête de Moine. Fresh seafood, especially plump Pacific oysters, cold crabs, langoustines and perhaps some sweet & succulent Botan ebi will be great with it too!
Only 2000 bottles made and a small allocation is now available here in SG via our online shop!
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